15-year-old boy saves manatee

In saving endangered species, age doesn’t matter.

If 15-year-old Mark Florende thought and acted like many boys his age, he could have just marveled at the sight of a large sea cow or Dugong lying helpless – and dying – on the beach near his village in Roxas City in Palawan.

But the young boy was alert enough to call the attention of his elders, who in turn reported the incident to volunteers and members of an environmental group, resulting in the rescue of the Dugong from certain death.

Sheila Albasin, project manager of the World Wildlife Fund, said Florende noticed something huge in the water while he was washing nipa leaves.

She said the young boy recognized the Dugong from a poster in the village, which prompted him to report the incident.

"He (Florende) recognized the animal at once and he knew it was stranded because of the low tide," Albasin said.

It was Florende’s grandfather, Ramon Tindog, who alerted authorities - including the Roxas-based Population, Health and Environment (PHE) office of WWF-Philippines.

A rescue team of local volunteers and WWF staff was immediately dispatched to save the animal.

The female Dugong was 1.8 meters long and weighed 200 kilograms. After making sure that the Dugong had no injuries, volunteers towed the animal back to the waters.

Florende even helped guide the animal to deeper water.

"After a few tense moments, the Dugong slowly swam off. Amidst cheers, the team watched her disappear into Palawan’s turquoise waters," Albasin said.

According to the WWF, the gentle Dugong inhabits shallow waters of the Indo-Pacific, where sea grass is most abundant. It is the fourth member of the order Sirenia. The fifth, the gigantic 8-meter long Steller’s Sea Cow (Hydrodamalis gigas) disappeared in 1768, just 30 years after being discovered. Like the Steller’s Sea Cow, the Dugong lives long but breeds slowly - making it a candidate for extinction.